Village of Magic
by kittycat1810
Summary: What if Merlin had been born in a village of magic? But Uther had burned the village while Merlin escaped to find Hunith and Balinor? When Merlin, Arthur, and the Knights go on a trip to the burnt out village, Merlin finds a locket that lets him see the past. Revealfic


**I decided to write this story since it has been bothering me for a while… This is my first Merlin fic and was inspired by Once Upon A December. I hope you like it! Bold from here on out is memories. I own nothing!**

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**Merlin's POV**

This is stupid and cruel. I don't know why Arthur decided to drag us to see part of the history of the Great Purge. Draíochta had been a village of magic: everyone there had it. Well, until it was destroyed by Uther during the Purge… It was cruel. The whole village…

But now, it was just a burned out shell. I've heard people describe it before. I don't understand why Arthur is dragging the Knights and I to it.

"_Mer_lin! Try to pay attention!" Arthur yelled from the front. I guess I missed a conversation… whoops.

"Sorry, prat. Hard to do so with your dollop-headed prattle!" I responded, grinning. The Knights all laughed until we came up to a clearing that lead to the burned-out shells of houses gathered together in what used to be a village. There was a circle of rocks in the center. Our faces turned grave as we thought of the deaths that had occurred here. We got off our horses and walked in.

Suddenly, flashes appeared in my head. **Gypsies were dancing with bears. People from the village were dancing around a tall fire as I watched from the side. Some of the dancers started casting spells and forming the smoke into different shapes. Their dance was graceful as the flames grew. It was a happy, cheerful dance. Someone held me safe and warm. There was loud, beautiful singing as the party continued. "Merlin. Merlin!"**

"Merlin! Merlin!" I opened my eyes to see Arthur and the Knights standing over me. "Merlin, what happened?" Arthur asked, eyes worried as he helped me sit up.

"I-I remember… Kind of… It's like a memory from a dream…" I said. _What is that? I've been here before. I can picture the whole village as it was before it burned… Why was I here?_

"What do you remember?" Leon asked, stepping closer to me as I got up.

"I-I've been here before…" They looked at me.  
"Why would _you_, of all people, come to a burned out village?" Arthur asked me, looking at me confused.

"It… it was before it was burned." I quietly said, hoping they hadn't heard.

"Before- Merlin, what were you doing here!?" Arthur asked, looking at me like I was an idiot.

"I don't remember, okay!" I yelled, before more flashed appeared.

**Painted wings decorated the walls of a small home. A man and woman stood over a cradle. They looked happy.**

"Merlin!" Arthur shook me.

"I-I…" I ran, following a path I knew by heart, winding between the burnt out shells of houses.

**Horses trotted through snow as I was held in someone's arms. I felt safe and warm.**

I was breathing hard as I reached the slightly-less burnt out house that I had been running towards. The knights finally reached me, following me as I walked inside.

"Merlin? What is it?" Gwaine asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Home." I said. "I-I think this was home. See that bit of wallpaper?" Gwaine nodded. "I remember. The whole cottage had that. Figures were dancing and singing around the firepit, bears and gypsies were here and there were horses in a blizzard… I think this was home. And there was a locket… here. Under the floorboards." I said, prying off a floorboard and pulling out a locket. "Tá na mo chuid cuimhní cinn. Oscail ag mo ordú." **(Translation: These are my memories. Open at my command.) **I the text off the locket. The locket popped open and a light blue light surrounded us.

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"**Oh, Brasil, he looks like you!" A beautiful woman said, looking into a cradle at a baby boy.**

"**But has your eyes, Elvina. What should we name him?" A strong-looking man asked the woman.**

"**Merlin. ****He will be our little Merlin." She smiled down at the baby (or me, I guess.). "Our son, Merlin Emrys ****Mac Brádaigh****." **_That's my last name? And they knew about my destiny?_** The**** woman smiled. "How is Balinor doing with dissuading Uther from killing those with magic?"**

"**Not well, from the last letter he sent. Funny, they were such good friends before Ygraine died. You think he'd realize that he should've listened to Nimueh when she tried to tell him what it could cost." **_Oh my God. Nimueh is my aunt…___**The man sighed. "My sister should have explained better. At least she hasn't come back here. The last thing we need is Nimueh leading Uther here."**

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**The scene changed as a young boy tripped over his feet and landed at the beautiful woman's feet. "Now, now Merlin. Be careful! You're going to hurt yourself!" The woman bent down and picked the boy (me, I guess) up. "Oh my son… You are going to get into trouble." My eyes turned gold and a spoon floated over to me and I put it in my mouth, sucking on it. The woman laughed, "Oh, Merlin. You're going to be powerful, aren't you? Yes, yes you are. And with a dragonlord for a father… you're in for a rough ride, darling. But still, no one has ever shown magic that early… it usually doesn't show up until the teenage years…" She carried me outside to see a fire blazing in the large firepit again. "Ah, Beltane. A lovely festival. At least we're safe for now. And your daddy, Brasil, is working on a tunnel with your godfather, Balinor Ambrosius. He will keep you safe. His love, Hunith, promised she would look after you too, in case Uther would go after Balinor. Uther won't get to you, I promise, my little hawk." The woman seemed sad as the scene changed again.**

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**This time, the scene wasn't happy. Smoke was everywhere as a boy, no older than five, ran through a crowd of people who were screaming and running in terror. "Mommy, Daddy! ****Where are you?!" The boy yelled desperately, but no one stopped or listened. Suddenly a man grabbed the boy and held him in his arms. "Uncle Iuchar! Where are my mommy and daddy?"**

"**We're going to find them, okay Merlin? Just stay calm, it's going to be alright!" Iuchar said, carrying me home. "Brasil, Elvina! We are surrounded. It is no use to leave. The Knights of Camelot lit the village on fire on all sides. We're trapped." he yelled**

"**Oh, Merlin, thank God! Thank you, Iuchar, brother." My mother said. She took me from him while my father took the locket I had found off of his neck and put it beneath a floorboard. **

"**Just in case he were to return." He said as Iuchar left. "Now Merlin, I need you to follow this light, okay?" the man said, forming a light like I had when Arthur was getting the cure after I had been poisoned. The younger me nodded and followed it into a tunnel. My father closed a small door behind me. "Don't worry, Elvina, he'll be safe. Hunith and Balinor will look after him." Then the house was consumed by fire.**

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We were thrown back into the present as the memory ended. _At least they didn't show the memory of them burning…_ I thought as I looked at the locket. I turned around to see Arthur and the Knights looking at me with pity. "Did…" I hated how my voice cracked. "D-did you see that?"

"Yes. Merlin, do you have magic?" Arthur asked.

I looked down and nodded. "But at least now I know why. I always thought I was a freak… Now I'm just the last of my kind… again. Guess I am still a freak though. Even they didn't know why I was so powerful. I may still be a monster for all I know…"

"You aren't a freak or a monster Merlin!" Gwaine said, hugging me tightly. "You are one of the sweetest people I know, only rivaled by Gwen. So you're powerful and have magic, so what? From the way it sounds, you've had it for a long time and I've never seen you seem at all threatening towards us or Camelot. Hell, every time I wanted to play a prank that had any potential to hurt Princess, you wouldn't help and tried to foil it! You aren't a threat to Camelot. I bet you've saved us plenty of times, haven't you?"

I looked at him and nodded, shyly. _Wow, I haven't acted shy since I left Ealdor…_ "A bit. But, the best way to fight magic is with magic and you guys would've gotten yourselves killed… Someone needed to save you."

"Merlin…" Arthur stepped forward, glaring at me. I flinched back as he took another step forward. "You idiot. I bet you charged into suicide situations, with no armor, for us, didn't you?" Arthur took another step forward then put a hand on my shoulder, smirking and giving me the look that said 'you're an idiot'.

"Ummm… Not quite suicide missions… I mean, I am fairly powerful. Or so the druids say." I said, avoiding his gaze.

"Just how powerful are you?" Percival asked me, tilting his head.  
"Not sure. According to some prophecy, I'm the most powerful the ever has, is, and ever will be." They all looked at me, shocked. _Oh great. Now they think I'm weird._ "I know, unbelievable, right? Why me of all people? Well I don't know! I'm the freak of freaks and have no idea why!" I started yelling at the end. "All this time, I had no idea why I had magic but my mother knew and never told me! Oh wait, she's not my mother! My whole family was torn apart by Uther, again!" I knew my magic was starting to react and make things float around us, but I couldn't calm down.

"It was bad enough when I found out Balinor was my father, and Uther hunted him, but now this! So many people think magic users are evil, yet more of us die by non magic hands than the number of us who would attack! You're only attacked because of that stupid law! The only ones who are willing to use magic anymore are the ones that would've been evil anyway! It's unfair to the rest of us to want to kill us!" Dark clouds started to cover us and it started to drizzle.

"I didn't even choose to have magic, but I've had to live every day of my life fearing for it and anyone who got close to me! I didn't do anything wrong, but I still suffered for others' choices! And now I'm so emotional I can't even control my magic!" I yelled, before sitting down and putting my head in my knees. By this point, some of the other burnt out shells of the houses were floating and it was pouring. _Great, now I ranted. I never do that! The memories really whacked me up. I can't calm down. Shit. _"L-Lance. I-I can't… Can't c-calm d-down…"

"Shit… I'll be right back. Just… don't do anything to upset him." I heard Lancelot run to get the tea that Gaius always sent with me on trips that helped me stay calm. I could feel the others looking at me and started to get more stressed, which caused lightning to start coming down around us. My breathing started to get heavier and more rapid until Arthur sat down next to me and put an arm around me.

"It's okay Merlin. I'm sorry for what happened to you, and maybe it's time for things to change. But, you need to try to breathe Merlin. There you go." Arthur talked me through breathing until Lancelot returned.

"Here." Lancelot handed me the cup of tea then sat on the other side of me from Arthur. The others just sat silently as I slowly drank the tea and worked on breathing deeply. I felt Lancelot's hand rub my back, helping to ground me here and calm me down. "There you go. Breathe, Merlin. Calm down. It's okay."

I was exhausted when I finally calmed down enough for my magic to stop working without my encouragement. I half collapsed onto Lancelot as the adrenaline wore off. He caught me and murmured "You can go to sleep, Merl. We've got you looked after." Then louder, "We'll stay here tonight. He's too tired to go back."

"Okay. You knew about his magic, didn't you?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. I found out on my own when I first came to Camelot. He was scared when I found out. DO you accept him?" Lancelot asked.

"Yes." Arthur.

"Of course!" Gwaine.

"Yes." Leon.

"Sure!" Elyan.

Silence. Percival.

"Good." Lancelot and the Knights kept talking, but I didn't hear them. I fell asleep, happy that I finally received acceptance, and that things would change now.

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**The End! I hope you liked it!**


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